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Sather Gate’s looking a bit destroyed, and the OCF’s decided to succumb to its money woes and postpone its triumphant return to late October, but at least one place on campus is set to reopen for sure. The newly retrofitted Bancroft Library will open its doors on January 5th, at precisely 1 p.m., to a student populace that will have already evacuated Berkeley for the remaining duration of that month. Brilliant timing, guys.
The place’s all decked out in bling now–massive chandeliers, granite counter-tops, marble floors you could check your reflection in. Those who would know say that it’s a huge change; the library wasn’t exactly a classy looking lady before the makeover, but now its polish extends to include a gold-leafed dome and that sparkling clean marble flooring. We don’t know what it was like before the university splurged millions of dollars on the remodeling, but we imagine a dark, dreary place where slavering packs of feral grad students roamed unchecked and blood-curdling shrieks emitted from the pages of books when you chanced to crack them open.
(Funnily enough, the library does call itself the proud owner of 40,000 fragments of Egyptian papyrus documents and a two-century old French book bound in human skin.)
The collection’s still in the midst of its 11-week move, and normal hours don’t resume until Jan. 20, but the library’s Mark Twain exhibit will open to the public on Dec. 1. It’s going to be an exhibit about Mark Twain’s leisurely pursuits and how they made him write the things he did and do the things he wanted. Like invent adjustable garment straps. True story.
Image Source: Aloys5268 under Wikimedia Commons
Bancroft Move News [Bancroft Library]
UC’s Bancroft Library celebrating Mark Twain [SF Chron]
After three years of renovation, Bancroft Library returns to UC Berkeley [San Jose Mercury News]
Comments:
Oct 15, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I realize as such; it’s something I noted in an earlier post. If the ambiguous word choice bugs, I’ll amend it.
Oct 16, 2008 at 12:24 am
I own some mementos of the clearinghouse days of Bancroft Library when it first shut its doors, back when. ahhh who knows when, been here toooooo long.
Oct 15, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Even if it’s just one line, you should get the facts straight. OCF isn’t under BUDGETING woes, it’s under missing-promised-funding-from-ASUC-for-weeks woes. But now the funding’s finally been approved, so construction will begin again … as soon as ASUC and/or campus gets around to approving the actual checks.